Today I went out and tried wakesurfing for the first time. It was a little disappointing that I could not let go of the rope at all, in fact I never could quite get the feel of that 'sweet spot'.

I just gleaned some good info from some of the other posts. I set the speed at 10MPH with my Taps plate on Slalom (down). I have a 5'6 inch broadcast board. I weigh 220 pounds. It was just me and two other guys (buddies seem to be a little shy this time of the year). I have a fat sac that weighs 550, but did not use it.

For those who have this boat, or some experience with it - do I need the ballast? My brief research here suggests the hard core surfers use huge amounts of ballast. Also what speed is best? The wake never quite seemed to clean up like I wanted it to.

For those who have this boat, or some experience with it - do I need the ballast?

Yes, and plenty of it. The more weight you have the easier it is to stay in the sweet spot especially with bigger guys like us (I am 205).

I have a 23V and load it down with about 750 in the back and about 250 in the front. My speed is about 13 mph and my Taps is at 8. The wake it puts out is clean and steep.

Although the Broadcast is a squirelly board and maybe too advanced for beginners. I demo'd both the Landlock and Broadcast when I first started wakesurfing and I found the Landlock to be a forgiving Board. A bigger board may help you to get the feel of it then try a smaller board. I did the same and now ride a LF SKim SKate 54. Before you let go of the rope make sure your in the right position of the wave before you drop in. You will be able to tell once you no longer have to rely on the rope and you yourself can control speed. I usually wait for the rope to get slack in it and hold it for a minute or two, feel it out and then throw the rope.

Don't give up, it will take you a few tries to figure out your weight, speed and the sweet spot. It took me a few outings to figure out the best set up.

The two bigger reserviors around here are Quail an Sand Hollow. Interestingly, both are not actually located on the river they get water from, but depend on an upstream diversion pipe to get water. During flooding, the debris risks damaging the diversion pipes, so they actually turn them off. Despite that, they've been able to get a lot of water since and things are looking up. Yesterday my boat said the water was 50 degrees and the air was over 70. We were the only ones there and it was pure glass. I try and go out most Saturdays and Wednesdays, but like I said, some of my buddies are a little skittish this time of year.

Thanks for the hints Pierce, I'll play around a bit more, especially with ballast and it seems I must go faster than the 9-10MPH I see others talk about.

you should try putting the fat sac in the rear compartment of the side you are riding, get your buddies to sit in that corner and put the TAPS up to 8 and then adjust from there. 10.5 seemed like a good setting for me

In wakesurfing behind our 22V we have to use the ballast on the one side. If the boat doesn't clearly lean to one side when sitting in the water, it won't matter what speed your are riding or where the TAPS are set. Go ahead and either fill the bag in the locker or lay it on the seat along the side of the boat.

Being a bigger guy, you may need to go a little faster, 10.5-11, but if you go too fast the wake gets smaller. Also, I found that I had to move my feet forward more than I expected to find the sweet spot. When it all comes together and you are finally doing it, you can tell, the grin on your face goes from ear to ear.

Like everyone else said...ballast, ballast, ballast. I don't have a Tige, but any boat the size of the 24V is going to need some pretty good weight to sink it down and put out a big wave. I've got a Supra SSV and for surfing I've got a 500 lbs sac and 250 lbs of lead in the rear left compartment, a 600 lbs sac on the left in the middle of the boat, and the 500 lbs ski locker sac in the front and center. That plus 3 or 4 people sitting on the left side of the boat throws out a very nice wave. Throw some more weight on your boat and you'll find letting go of the rope a lot easier.

Ok, I finally got around to trying to surf again. It was just me and a buddy. I put the 550 pound sack in the rear locker with just the driver. Definitely not enough weight to give a big wave. Never could find a spot that even gave much slack in the rope. I went every speed from 9.5-12.5 and every TAPS combination. It looks like I'll be investing in another sack

i got a o2 23v i wud throw te sack in the back hatch and put the ppl on the side i like more weight back and taps at like 5 or 6 less taps the wakes to soft and hard to get speeed on to much its sloppy u some peoples problem learning is they wanna ride out from the wake u gota ride down it going toward the boat not out good luck

I got out last week and loaded her up heavy - 550 in the bow, 400 in the rear locker, and about 600 pounds worth of people along the port side. She was leaning pretty good to that side. The wake was considerably larger and steeper than before, but I still was unable to let go of the rope.

Maybe even more weight? Maybe less up front and more in the rear? Any additional thoughts would be appreciated.

TTG, no offense...but you are HUGE! At 220 I'd bet you are just too big for that broadcast. The ballast you have is more than adequate to at least allow you to drop the rope. Do you have access to a regular surfboard? Like a 6'0" shortboard or the like? My guess would be it's just a bouancy issue. Check out Shred Stixx, Jerry has a website and he makes a board called the Blow Fish specifically for you big boys. Before fiddling with the ballast anymore, try a bigger board with more bounacy. I have a friend that's big like you and we have to put him on a 6'1" Rusty, he simply swamps everything else. If you can get in touch with Jerry Price at Shred Stixx he's killer at diagnosing your surf issues.

your weight should be ok. It's probably not optimal (you need to play around with the ballast to get it all tuned right... a bit more in the rear couldn't hurt), but you should be able to surf with the wake it's putting out. My guess is that the problem is the surfer, not the boat (no offense intended ;) Make sure you stand in a good knees bent athletic stance. Alot of people stand up tall and stiff legged. It's much harder to find the sweet spot like that, although it's possible. You may be riding down the wave and out away from the boat. That's no good, because then you ride away from the wave = no surfing. Make sure you ride up the wave with the board pointed towards the inside of the boat. Put a fair amount of weight on your front foot. More weight on front foot = more speed, more weight on back foot = more brakes. When you find the pocket, you want to have equal weight on both feet. If your behind you need to speed up. Hope this helps

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I think I needed to finish the rest of the story.

I sprained my ankle pretty bad in the summer and had about six weeks where I was not in the mood for wakeboarding, so I really had a time to learn to surf. With the help of the people on this board, I got her dialed in nicely. What a rush! There really is something cool about just floating behind the boat with no rope. It has been a blast to see others get the feel for it and watch the smile come on their faces when they feel the sweet spot for the first time.

Here's what I learned: My 24V needs about 1,000 pounds on one side to have a nice surfable wake. I tried several times with less, even now that I have the hang of it, and it is next to impossible with my large Hyperlite Broadcast to surf without that much weight. More weight than that and the wake is even better.

I bought a custom sac from Barefoot international that holds about 1300 pounds, and I can surf even with only a driver in the boat. Surfdad gave me the idea for the sac. Thanks!